As President and Founder of Global Infusion, one of my passions since Day 1 has been to diligently seek the Lord to have Him lead us to our Kingdom assignments around the world. While there are millions of people doing amazing things for God in many countries, I have learned that there is a big difference between a good idea, and a God idea.
It is a good idea to evangelize, help the poor, pray for the sick, and be a light in the darkness. However, when we do so in the time and place that God specifically ordained for us, both the immediate and long-term impact is far more effective.
The cost of missions is high. I find that it is easy to misinterpret the famous “count the cost” verse in Luke 14:28 as considering the call to missions as optional. It is not optional. It is mandated. We may not have all the resources at our disposal to reach the world, but that should not inhibit us from going. The longer I’m engaged in missions, the more I meet people of God, indigenous and cross-cultural, who just find a way to make it all happen. They operate in faith. They have nothing. Yet they do everything they can to reach the lost, sick, and hopeless.
Money is always one of the first reasons I hear as to why traveling and doing either short or long term missions is not viable. Distance from home, being away from life, work, school and family are other reasons I have received for not going.
As I write this, my dad has suffered a heart attack while in India on a GI mission trip. He is in a hospital after having surgery, and I am on my way to be with him and bring him home. I myself have had more than one IV in a remote village. Every missionary can tell you war stories, but that is not the point. The point is that we know the risk. We know it’s not easy. We know the funds are not always there. While these things may be true, the bigger picture is this: there are lost people in this world who will die in their sin and live eternally separate from God unless someone tells them about Jesus. That is why we go.
UPDATE: I am now back from India. My father had to have 2 heart operations, and we were able to travel home. We thank God for several miracles that kept him alive. Please pray for a full recovery.